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Congratulations! Dry aging done! Your ribeye, striploin or sirloin is ready. Now it’s time to trim the “bark” off, cut it into steaks, and get ready to enjoy, share or preserve to savor over time.

Steak lover beware: Dry aged steak cooks faster than “wet-aged” steak. With the lower water content, there is none of the weep and shrivel to indicate doneness. Time has provided tenderness that you don’t want to unintentionally turn to shoe leather.

The ultimate way to cook a steak is sous vide, under vacuum in a controlled temperature water bath. Once the meat has reached the desired temperature of the bath, the meat is cooked perfectly edge to edge. Polish the steak off with a quick sear on a grill or frying pan. This is the secret to a perfect steak.

Freezing dry aged steaks:
Dry aged steaks freeze very well with minimal impact on taste or texture. Because of the reduced moisture content, dry aged steaks are less susceptible than wet aged steaks to freeze damage that is a result of water crystal formation. Simply vacuum seal your dry aged steaks into vacuum/sous vide bags and place them in the freezer. For best results, thaw the steaks very slowly in the refrigerator and bring them to room temperature before grilling or cooking sous vide. You might want “hot tub” the steaks in lukewarm water for an hour or so before cooking so you know they are just right when you toss them on the grill.

Cooking dry aged steaks:
Dry aged steaks tend to cook faster than wet aged steaks because there is just less water in them to “bring to a boil.” The steak will reach doneness in much less time. So, keep an eye on those steaks, use a quick read thermometer, and pull them off before they reach temp to let the carry over do the trick.

Many chefs will quick sear the steak before vacuum packing with a pat of butter and some seasoning. When you sous vide this way, the flavors expand and penetrate the meat delectably. Sous vide cooking is your best guarantee of steak perfection—exact temperature, ideal texture, complete nutritional value and maximum flavor.

During a recent visit to Québec, we happened upon an opportunity to do a little meat-spotting. While meandering the aisles of a Costco store, the delicious-looking Canadian beef in the Meat Department made for some mouth-watering picture-taking–and a few questions.

Many steak-lovers world-wide are well aware of the Prime/Choice distinction in grades of American beef–thanks in great part to several great American Steakhouses. Fewer of us know that plenty of exquisite beef is raised on the rich soils of Canada and graded with slightly different names and criteria. Perhaps the difference is not in name alone.

Canada Beef, Inc. has been getting the word out to chefs and foodies that they have beef to offer that will dazzle you with its marbling and–of course, flavor. Their comparative grading chart http://www.canadabeef.ca/us/en/quality/Standards/default.aspx raises more questions than it answers, but the deep, ruby red meat and distinct, white marbling in the Québecois Costco meat department sure provided lots of enticement for exploration.

I have befriended a French national who was a professional butcher all his life.

He knows his way around charcuterie…he owned the butcher and charcuterie shop in his Alsatian town of Lembach, France.

It was a family-owned business that he worked in from his youth to his retirement about 12 years ago.

When I let him taste this bresaola…he nearly fell over. How could he truly be tasting what he regarded as a complex process reserved for seasoned professionals?

As far as he was concerned, I was just a geeky computer nerd – he was flabbergasted on how I was able to produce this piece of heavenly-cured meat.

This bresaola, by the way, he knows as Swiss Bündnerfleisch or Viande des Grisons from his French motherland.

He charged me to make 2 more pieces…he was going to visit France in the coming months and wanted to share this with two chefs he has great relationships with and both of whom I’ve met and broke bread with on my journeys to Europe.

One was the Michelin Star-pedigreed Alsatian chef, none other than Fernand Mischler, longtime proprietor of the famed gastronomic hotspot of Alsace, the Auberge du Cheval Blanc

In both scenarios, he let the chefs have it…imploring them to taste this wonderful Bündnerfleisch he had obtained from a charcuterie in Switzerland. They craftily cut the pieces, hoisted it to the nose, tasted it and they bantered back and forth reveling in its splendor.

They asked him what shop had made this…then he dropped the hammer on them!

It was his American friend who made it…they stood in utter disbelief.

Woohoo UMAi Drybag!

Feel free to use this as a customer testimonial if you wish…I am sold!

Bag up a couple of ribeyes so you might finally be willing to wait that magical 35 or 45 days for the amazing umami of richly dry aged beef.

Take advantage of this special opportunity to save big with free shipping.

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If you love the Macaroni Grill, check out this copycat recipe for their soft dipping bread and oil. What a delicious way to welcome guests into your home while they wait for the grill to warm. On that note, ever tried grilled bread?

“This is a very special year for us as we recognize an industry that has worked tirelessly to grow the finest potatoes available. We know that our potatoes provide nourishment to millions of folks every day of the year, but many don’t realize how important the potato industry is to Idaho,” explained Frank Muir, IPC president and CEO. “Idaho Potatoes generate more than $4 billion dollars in revenue annually and employ more than 30,000 people. Agriculture and potatoes in particular are the primary reasons Idaho is among the most fiscally sound states in the nation.” – Floored! the official blog of the NRA Show & IWSB

Been wondering exactly how to trim your steak after dry aging in UMAi Dry? This video will walk you through it! If you have other questions, visit our forum for great advice from the whole UMAi community.